Visible card index with cards registered for photographic reproduction



July 19, 1955 c. M. EHNES 2,713,502

VISIBLE CARD INDEX WITH CARDS REGISTERED FOR PHQTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION Filed March 12, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 623a! .Ehnes A TORNE July 19, 1955 VISIBLE CARD INl DEX WITH CARDS REGISTERED Filed March 12, 1949 M A J O R Weights And 8 ace Dimensions STOCK NUMBER C M. EHNES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR c M. EHNES 2,713,502

FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 VISIBLE CARD INDEX WITH CARDS REGISTERED 20 .355 801% vc 3 2w; Pm: Eu: E0132 July 19, 1955 Filed March 12, 1949 INVENTOR United States atent Ofihce VISIBLE CARD INDEX WITH CARDS REGISTERED FQR PHOTGGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION Charles M. Ehnes, Buifalo, N. Y., assignor to Remington Rand Inn, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Belaware Application March 12, 1949, Serial No. 81,124

6 Claims. (Cl. 283-1) The present invention relates to visible card indexes and particularly to a type of card which has hitherto been used for many years in connection with indexing systems, and which has fixing lugs cut out from the card to be distorted rearwardly for engagement behind laterally directed marginal flange portions of a runway.

The cards are thus slidably carried by the runway in nested overlapping relationship, and the lugs are so placed that those of each card cooperate with the bottom edge of the card which overlays it so that the position of the lugs thus determines the degree of overlap of the nested cards. in general, the overlap is such that a narrow strip of each under card is exposed beyond the edge of the card which overlays it sutllcient to accommodate one or a few lines of index matter. The runways are usually mounted on panels or other carriers, and, when the cards are sufiicientiy wide to justify it, two or more runways are provided in parallel spaced relationship on each panel.

Examples of such cards, the mounting means and the operating technique are described, for example, in the prior U. S. patents numbered: 1,048,056 patented December 24, 1912; 1,048,058 patented December 24, 1912; 1,628,124 patented May 10, 1927; 1,675,331 patented July 3, 1928; 1,820,889 patented August 25, 1931; 1,845,843 patented February 16, 1932; 1,903,206 patented March 28, 1933; and 1,925,343 patented September 5, 1933.

The present invention is used for photo-ofiset reproduction processes, in which each exposed card strip is intended to hear one or a few lines of written matter so that the cards can be engaged upon a runway and closed up into closely disposed nested overlapping relationship to build up successive lines of written matter visible on the exposed portions of the cards. The written matter is thus built up line by line on the runways, which are preferably mounted permanently or removably on panels so the completed panels may be photographed. With proper lighting, the card edges are not apparent in the finished result and it will be appreciated. that it is thus possible to achieve a good photo-offset reproduction, for example, by photo-lithographic means.

The invention provides a card structure and visible index that is etlicient in producing an index of desired information in which individual index cards may be changed, new index cards added and old index cards removed without necessitating a complete change of the index. The index may be kept in a currently indexed order with a minimum amount of shifting and changing of cards. At the same time the cards are constructed and arranged for photographing in order to produce parts catalogs, directories, manuals, and other forms of printed books, folders, pamphlets, and newsprint by photo-offset printing methods in current use directly from the cards. By the accurate construction and arrangement of the cards in the index, a group of cards may be assembled on each of a series of panels for photographing to produce a printed page having the appearance of a page printed by the typesetting process. In this way, the steps of producing typed sheets and then setting type for each sheet to be printed is eliminated.

The fact that the cards are slidable on the runways makes it possible to separate them lengthwise on a runway at any point for new cards to be inserted without upsetting a desired order which may, for example, be alphabetical or numerical. Likewise, items no longer to be included can be taken out without disturbing the order. If a typewriter with print face type is used with justifying, it is also possible to build up columns and produce by photo-offset means a satisfactory substitute for type set print using a typewriter in place of the complicated machinery normally used for setting type.

it will be appreciated, however, that with such a method of reproduction, the final result depends on the accuracy with which the cards are engaged and nested on the runways, their fiatness, parallelism of the exposed card edges, etc. Likewise, by producing all the lugs by a single cutting operation with the several dies mounted in exactly their required relationship, it is equally simple, as is well known in the art, to apply the die cuts and get the tongues accurately placed with respect to each other. The final reproduction, however, will still depend on the accuracy of the lugs with respect to the card and its printing and especially is that so where the cards are ruled with vertical lines to produce, in the finished reproduction, a printed sheet having ruled columns. If the lugs are slightly misplaced, the final effect will be irregular vertical lines producing a decidedly broken effect instead of an accurately ruled sheet.

It is to that problem that the invention is primarily directed and to that end the invention consists in the provision of a gauge marking accurately applied to the card when it is printed and ruled to bear a fixed relationship to the printed matter and ruled lines and provide means that show the relationship of the printed matter with respect to at least one of the lugs. By utilizing, for formation of the lugs, die cuts which have some parts of them straight and vertical and other parts straight and horizontal, it is possible to get exact registry of gauge markings with these horizontal and vertical portions, and, furthermore, if a horizontal gauge line is printed in sufiiciently heavy type face and ink, it also serves to eliminate any natural curl of the paper stock and achieve a fiat card.

The gauge markings are useful not only in adjusting the feed mechanism for accurately delivering the cards to the lug forming dies, but can be checked periodically in a production run for ascertaining whether the required relationship of the lugs to the card edges and printed lines and characters is being maintained.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a typical ruled card according to the invention prior to the formation of its attachment lugs.

Fig. 2 corresponds to Fig. 1, but shows the final card showing the relationship between the gauge markings and the die-cut tongues.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of an assembled indexed group of cards on a panel ready for photographing.

Fig. 4 is a view of a completed printed sheet produced by photo oifset printing directly from the card index shown in Fig. 3.

The card 1 of Fig. 1 is produced from stiff paper stock of the desired grade and texture, having the required lines printed on it, and cut to accurate rectangular form and dimensions. The line 2 is a faint or light blue line which serves as a type guiding line, which, though visible to a stenographer for accurately placing the type, will not reproduce in any normal photo-oitset process of reproduction. The lines 3 are vertical lines forming ruled column sections by which printing of ruled columns is achieved in the final result through cooperation of ruled column sections on each card. The line 4 is a flattening line applied in heavy type face and ink. As hereinbefore stated, it is possible in that way to eliminate the tendency of the card to curl and thereby maintain greater accuracy in printing, punching and aligning a series of cards with the column sections in registry. 5 indicates a vertical gauge line, which may be continuous or broken, but which is accurately placed to bear a predetermined relation to a lug subsequently to be produced. 6, likewise, indicates a horizontal gauge line also applied to bear a predetermined relation to one or more lugs. Gauge lines 5 and 6 provide gauge means or marks for use in orienting and positioning printed lines 2, 3, and 4 as well as providing for gauging and accurately positioning the lugs. In this way the printing, lugs and edges of the card can be very accurately positioned by the gauge means so that all of the cards on a panel will have the ruled lines in coincident relation to present the appearance of an accurately printed ruled sheet so that a photographic printed reproduction of a series of assembled cards on a panel will produce a printed ruled sheet with indexed matter uniformly displayed thereon.

Passing on now to Fig. 2, the lugs are of known form and are represented by reference numeral 7. It will be noted that the material cut out to produce the lugs, produces straight horizontal portions 8 and straight vertical portions 9. These straight portions have a function in the size of the card, vertical portions 9 cooperating with the runway edges, whereas horizontal portions 3 cooperate with the bottom edge of an under card, the two straight portions thus cooperating for achieving secure relative parallelism as between nested cards. The vertical gauge line 5 is accurately placed to coincide with the straight vertical portion 9 of one of the die cuts and the horizontal gauge line 6 is similarly placed to register with the straight horizontal portions 8. The horizontal gauge line 6 need not be continuous but it is preferable that it should be so that it also can serve to supplement the flattening eflect of the flattening line 4.

As it is customary to cut out the card to form all the tongues 7 by means of a multiple die at one operation the relative position of the die-cuts or the lugs relative to each other does not vary, and it thus suffices to provide a single vertical gauge line 5, though in some cases vertical gauge lines could be provided in registry with all the vertical portions 9.

In initially adjusting the feed mechanism which delivers the cards to the lug cutting machine, the gauge lines serve as a guide by means of which, by trial and error, the required degree of accuracy can be achieved, and will be maintained for a standard size of card until, possibly only after operation over a long period, some minor adjustment has to be made to compensate for wear in the machinery or alternatively a change in paper stock is made or a substantial change in atmospheric conditions changes the nature and dimension of the cards. In any of these circumstances the gauge lines forming the means of orientation for the printing, cutting, and punching of the cards serve as a highly convenient means of inspection in periodical checking for maintenance of the required degree of accuracy. Any lack of accuracy is indicated by the gauge means and can at once be visually discerned and quickly rectified.

Since, for the purposes for which the cards are intended to be used, a narrow strip of each card only very slightly wider than the distance between the type guiding line 2 and the top edge of the card is exposed beyond the one which overlays it, the flattening lines and gauge lines are concealed.

The card illustrated by way of example is typical of the sort employed for carrying a single line of matter in column form. The edge exposure can be increased, where, for instance, a heading in larger type, or an illustration is to be included, or two or three lines are to be included, by increasing the depth of the card. The lugs 4 and their critical relationship with respect to the card remains the same despite the variation in card depth.

A conventional card index panel is shown in Fig. 3 carrying runways 11 slidably supporting a series of indexed cards 1. Fig. 3 shows how the cards when internested in overlapping visible indexed relation on panel i have the vertical lines 3 on each card forming sectional column lines arranged in cooperating relation on the panel to provide continuous column lines in accurately registered relation. This presents a visible indexed group of cards wherein a predetermined number may be arranged to produce a predetermined number of printed lines on a paper sheet in photographic reproduction, so that in the printed sheet made by photooffset process from the cards on panel 10, it will present the same appearance as a printed sheet made from a type set form, in the manner shown in Fig. 4. The light blue lines 2 indicating the proper position for the lines of typing or printing on each card have a color that does not photograph and with the lighting arrangement in photographing the panel, the edges of the cards do not photograph and the final printed sheet produced by photo otfset printing eliminates the lines indicating the edges of the cards, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to produce a plain printed sheet, as shown in Fig. 4. Where cards having more than one line of printing on each card are used with single line indexed cards all blue lines 2 will be fully visible when the cards are arranged in indexed order on the panel, as shown in Fig. 3. In addition, it will be understood that vertical blue lines, not shown, may be used to indicate the alignment for printing on each card, as well as horizontally, in order that the first letter of each column of indexed information on each card may be positioned on the card and oriented by the gauge means so that the columns of information will be accurately aligned vertically, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The invention therefore provides for the gauge means to not only provide a means for accurately locating vertical and horizontal lines on each card but also for accurately positioning the printed matter applied to each card so that when the cards are assembled on the panel, the gauge means on different cards cooperate through the accurate positioning of the lines, printing, and punching relative thereto to register column section lines 3 on each card with the column section lines on all of the other cards forming the index on the panel in cooperation with the runways and with the non-photographing blue lines provide a cooperation in a visible index that effectively facilitates the use of a plurality of index cards mounted in offset overlapping relation for photo-offset printing to produce an accurately setup printed sheet.

Printed title and column heading card 12 and special ruled cards 13 may be mounted on runways 11 in the same manner as cards 1 for providing the desired printed matter at the top and bottom of the panel for producing a photo-offset printed sheet of the desired character,

as shown at 14 in Fig. 4.

The invention therefore provides a method of more economically setting up and maintaining an index of names or any other kind of information so that any line of indexed matter can be changed. The indexed matter is at the same time arranged for shifting and interchanging of cards on a panel and from one panel to another to provide the desired number of lines of indexed information to be reproduced in printed form. The non-photographing blue lines provide for accurately locating the indexed information on each card and the gauge means aligns and registers all the cards and indexed information in composite sheet representing form so that direct photographic reproduction of the assembled cards on a panel will produce a printed sheet with a desired arrangement of the printed matter thereon.

The invention claimed is:

l. The method of printing text matter from a plurality of discrete cards, which consists in applying a gauge means on each card, forming attaching means and indicia position indicating means on each card in predetermined relation to said gauge means, printing laterally disposed indicia on each card according to said indicating means, slidably attaching each card individually on a support, slidably positioning said cards in indexed order in vertically adjacent overlapping relation to conceal said gauge and attaching means by the adjacent overlapped card with the lateral position of each card on the support fixed by said attaching means, said gauge means and position indicating means locating the indicia on the assembled visible portions of the group of cards on said support in accurately aligned and spaced relation, photographing said assembled group of cards to obtain a record of the indexed information without the attaching gauge and position indicating means, and producing a printed sheet containing the complete indexed indicia on the group of cards by photo-ofiset printing means.

2. In combination, a visible index card, printed vertical lines on said card forming column sections ending at an edge of said card, gauge means on said card having said printed vertical lines fixed in a first selected relation thereto, said card having cut edges fixed in a second selected relation to said gauge means, a visible horizontal line printed on said card for locating the position for printing index matter on said card having a third selected and fixed relation to said gauge means, and attaching lugs formed on said cards in a fourth selected and fixed relation to said gauge means, said first, second, third and fourth selected relations interacting to an extent at which said gauge means visually indicates the relation between said lugs and lines on said card and cooperates with gauge means on corresponding cards to secure registry of column sections and uniform spacing of printed index matter on an assembled group of said cards.

3. In combination with a card of the class described in which the card is printed in one operation and preformed to substantially exact rectangular shape and then die-cut at a separate operation to produce a plurality of openings defining said lugs, each of said openings having straight horizontal and vertical portions; the provision of gauge markings constituted by at least one horizontal line and at least one vertical line accurately applied with the printing of said card in a position in which the horizontal and vertical marking lines coincide with the corresponding horizontal and vertical portions of a selected one of said openings when said card is die-cut, a coating of heavy ink forming said horizontal line, said coating coacting with said card stock to prevent said card stock from curling about its vertical axis.

4. In a visible index having a panel and card supporting means on said panel, the combination of a plurality of offset overlapping cards having a marginal portion of each card in adjacent relation to corresponding marginal portions of adjacent cards, gauge marks formed on each card, each of said cards having printed vertical lines bearing a fixed relation to said gauge marks and extending transversely of the visible margin of each card, attaching and spacing means formed on each card in fixed relation to said gauge marks and detachably engaged with said card supporting means to align accurately the vertical lines of all of said cards and to establish uniform visible margins for all of said cards, the fixed relation between said gauge means and said attaching means being selected to produce ruled column lines on the assembled cards on said panel whereby photographic reproduction of the assembled cards on said panel provides a vertically ruled sheet having a plurality of columns containing the composite indexed information on said assembled group of cards.

5 In an index or file, a card retaining strip formed to present a pair of outwardly directed flanges, a plurality of index cards slidably mounted thereon, each card being provided with a pair of inwardly directed tongues struck out of said card and extending inwardly from a marginal portion thereof, said tongues having inwardly directed tab portions for engagement beneath said flanges, said cards engaging in offset interengaged overlapping relation on said strip, said tongues having portions at the base thereof offsetting adjacent cards in internested relation to expose the opposite margin of each card in visible index relation, each card having at least one vertical line section applied on said opposite margin in transversely extending relation, and a gauge mar i applied to each card adjacent a portion of one of said tongues in fixed relation to said line section for indicating the position of said line and tongue on each card, whereby a plurality of cards having the gauge mark in the same relative position to the tongue of each card will cooperate when mounted on said retaining strip to retain said vertical line sections on each card in accurate aligned relation to form a continuous composite vertical line for positioning printing on the visible margins of said cards in aligned relation.

6. A visible index card of the character claimed in claim 5, comprising coating means applied to a selected card portion in longitudinally extending relation and inwardly spaced relation to the upper and lower edges of said card to normally retain all portions of said card in substantially coplanar relation, said coating means being normally concealed by the visible portion of the adjacent overlapped card.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 767,940 Grimme Aug. 16, 1904 1,614,490 Poorman Jan. 18, 1927 1,675,331 Day July 3, 1928 1,719,412 Wigginton July 2, 1929 1,777,144 Innes Sept. 30, 1930 1,836,907 Dienelt Dec. 15, 1931 2,232,732 Rogers Feb. 25, 1941 2,262,277 Godley Nov. 11, 1941 2,368,531 Erickson Jan. 30, 1945 2,496,856 Cook Feb. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 903,315 France Jan. 10, 1945 OTHER REFERENCES The Lithographic Manual, Soderstrom, Waltwin Publishing C0,, New York, 1940, pages 301 and 302. 

